Hello friends!

It has been a busy couple of weeks and my plan to post this article a WEEK ago flew out the window. So, here I am posting today. Hopefully, I can get on a better schedule with this blog, haha.

Anyways,

I hope you are all doing well! I love the Czech Republic. I came at the right time – now all the canola is turning a lime green color and losing its yellow tints. It also suddenly got so hot. Cumorah Academy has no air conditioning, so we’ve been opening all the windows and trying not to melt.

When I was in 6th grade we were sorted into groups and each given a fairy tale that we had to reenact for the class. My group was given Jack and the Beanstalk. We took a poster board and on one side drew the beanstalk and the giant’s castle for our background. The other side was going to be Jack’s house and the place where Jack traded his cow for the magic beans. I was put in charge of drawing that one and then everyone would help color it in.

I filled 3/4ths of that poster with hills. Just rolling, different shades of green hills. I remember a group member telling me to stop adding hills because he didn’t want to color all of them.

I haven’t thought about that memory since 6th grade, but I remembered it on my walk yesterday. There are SO many hills here. Rolling hills in the Czech countryside. I feel like I am in the Sound of Music. It is beautiful.

Prague Trip

Two Saturdays ago (April 27th!) we went to PRAGUE! It was gorgeous! Prague is a beautiful city. I was amazed that people created the buildings. The buildings are all so tall (And not just because I am short.) There were towering buildings and cathedrals and statues everywhere. The cobblestone streets were amazing, the beautiful architecture, the atmosphere. It was all surreal and wonderful! I was just blown away by the beauty of it.

Being in Europe is like a dream- I keep pinching myself to see if it’s real! I read an article before coming to Cumorah that talked about Prague. It said, “Prague is the handsomest city in Europe and had intoxicated writers and poets for centuries.” I am a writer and a poet, so I was excited to go! After spending a few hours in Prague I wholeheartedly agree! It is GORGEOUS!

I could very easily spend two weeks (or more) just exploring Prague. There are so many shops and cathedrals and things to do. I feel like I only scratched the surface.

The advisory couple here, Janet and Brigg, invited me and a couple of other interns on a six-hour walking and boat tour of the city. We toured the Prague castle, St., Vitus Cathedral, and Church of Our Lady Victorious, saw the John Lennon wall, walked down some streets in Prague, ate a traditional Czech lunch, (with Knedliky) walked on the Charles Bridge, and took a boat ride tour on the Vltava river. I went with them along with two other interns, Paige and Laurel. It was really fun!

I need to go back! The tour was really good to see a glimpse of what I want to visit later. We didn’t have much time from when the tour ended to when we needed to get on the bus to go back to Cumorah so there were some things I didn’t get to see and do.

My list of needs to go back and see so far is:

• Astronomical Clock
• Try Trdelnik
• Buy souvenirs (There was sadly no time for this with the tour, so obviously I need to go back. Souvenirs are my favorite part of a trip. )
• Get a baby Jesus ornament for my Christmas tree from a souvenir shop outside of the Church of Our Lady Victorious
• See one of the gardens
• Visit a Prague Museum

Witch Burning

On April 30th there’s a holiday in the Czech Republic called the burning of the witches. It goes back to pagan times when they burned actual people, but now they use a straw effigy. People believed witches gathered on this night, causing mischief and keeping winter around. They would burn the witch to stop the winter.

The burning of the witches is now a big bonfire party. It symbolizes the end of winter and the beginning of spring. The next town over, Načeradec, invited Cumorah to join them for the festivities. They had hot dogs, kofola (Czech Republic’s drink alternative to Coca-Cola,) and beer. Families were playing soccer, basketball, tag, etc. It was fun. Then once it got dark they burned the witch.

I think I could adopt this tradition. Maybe not burn a witch effigy, but have a bonfire with friends every April 30th to honor my internship in the Czech Republic- totally down!

Speaking of kofola- I tried some! It’s a little weird but I got used to it and kept drinking it. Kofola is an alternative to Coke. I couldn’t compare the two for you because I actually haven’t ever tried Coke…) But it was good. I feel sick every time I drink soda but that didn’t happen with the kofola.

2nd Prague Trip

Okay. I loved Prague so much that I went back the week after. My roommate (and one of the English as a second language interns) Paige left today to go visit her friend from the Czech Republic. She was going to need to get on the train to visit her friend, so last week the two of us decided to go try out the bus and metro system, and walk to her train platform. Then spend half a day in Prague.

Travel there:

I can now say I am confident in how the bus system here works. Both buses had drivers who only spoke Czech, so that was a bit hard to understand but miracles happened, we got on the right bus, and we made it there on time.

The route is to get on a bus from Pravětice to Načeradec. This was a two-minute bus ride, but then we sat in Načeradec for an hour because the next bus wasn’t coming until later. (The buses are very sporadic, at least in the country.) Then from Načeradec, we took another bus to Vlašim, and finally one more bus from Vlašim to the Roztyly Metro Station in Prague. Then we took the metro station to the Hlavní nádraží station where the train is and the city and everything we wanted to go to.

Sounds complicated? It was. Prague is an hour in the car, but our trip took three hours.

The latest bus back to Načeradec on Saturdays is at 2 p.m., so to spend the majority of the day in Prague we had to leave by 6 a.m. The bus station at Pravětice is a ten-minute walk from Cumorah but it is all uphill. I was trying not to die and panting like crazy I’m sure, but the walk was beautiful! We passed by some cows, and the mist and fog on the rolling hills was STUNNING! (I forgot to take a picture because of the panting, but it reminded me of the final proposal scene in the Kierra Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice. You can watch it by clicking here. Sadly, it’s not the best version of Pride and Prejudice, but pay attention to the scenery and the fog. That was my walk to the bus stop.)

It is very difficult to understand the bus driver when they only speak Czech. The bus driver on the first bus got a little annoyed at us taking so long to figure out the system. (You need to hold your card down for twice as long as you think you need to.) He eventually made the group pay in coins, (which miracle #1) someone in our group had enough coins to let us all on the bus. I only had my card so I was grateful someone had coins.

If you are getting on a bus in the Czech Republic and the driver only speaks Czech, and you only speak English, here is what you should say:

“Ahoj!” That’s hello

“Načeradec” Say where you are going

Pay with your card. Hold it down for longer than you think you need to so it registers. Also, bring coins and korunas just in case. 🙂

“Děkuji” That is “Thank you.” (It’s pronounced Jah- qwee)

In cases like Paige and I, hold up two fingers and say “dva,” which means “two.” (Pronounced Di-vah)

The buses we went on at least didn’t have the option to pay for both tickets at once, however, so you will just have to tap your card twice.

Also, if you are going to Europe make sure you get a fancy card that has the tap technology. The buses DO NOT have a way to insert the card or slide it (or maybe the bus driver was just upset with mine…) and I DON’T have a fancy card so I couldn’t pay for the bus ticket. Thankfully Paige has a fancy card and I have Venmo so I was able to pay her back.

Miracle time

Okay. I know I already shared a miracle with a student having enough coins for everyone to get on the first bus, but more miracles are coming. This trip just proved to me yet again how good God is.

Once we got to Načeradec, we had to wait for an hour for the next bus to come. (I told you they’re sporadic!) Once that bus came we needed to get on the bus to Vlašim and then get another bus in Vlašim to go to the Roztyly Metro Station.

We get on the bus. Paige and I went first in the group because we had memorized our script.

“Ahoj!” Hello

“Vlašim” (Pronounces Vlah-Sheem)

“Dva” Two

“Děkuji” Thank you. (Jah- qwee)

When we got to this part we could tell he understood that much but then he rattled off a monologue in Czech and Paige and I just looked at each other. In a moment of inspiration, Paige pulled out her phone and showed the bus driver the bus route we were following. The bus driver nodded, pointed to Roztyly station on the map, and gestured for us to pay and then sit. So we did. Our group got on and the bus took off for Vlašim.

Here is the miracle part. We get to the bus stop at Vlašim and everybody gets up. I have my “Děkuji” on the tip of my tongue. The bus driver got out of his seat and motioned at us to stay seated. THEN, the numbers on the screen inside the bus changed.(The screen shows all the stops and the final destination.) The bus number changed to the bus number of the bus we needed to get on at Vlašim. That bus was both bus numbers (if that makes sense) and could take us to Roztlyly. Had we just told that driver “Vlašim” and not shown him the full map we all would have gotten off the bus and not realized the bus changed. The bus would have left and we would have been stranded in Vlašim with no way back.

I am so grateful Paige thought to show him the map on her phone. I am grateful that the bus driver was so nice. We made it to Prague. Everything was okay.

Are you ready for miracle #3? It may not seem like a miracle at first, but I am counting it as one. (At this time it is 9 am ish, and already so many miracles!) At Roztyly we got on the metro to get from there to the Prague train station. We had 5 stops I think to go through on the metro. We bought our tickets and hopped on.

Immediately after we got on an officer came over and asked to check our tickets. He showed us where we were supposed to validate our ticket and the very small fine print telling us to do so. We had not and he charged us $50. It was an expensive mistake. (He was a real officer with a badge, if you are worried. We did not get scammed.) But it was a tourist trap. My group was pretty mad. That is unfair. It’s our first time, we don’t know any better. You may be thinking how is this a miracle?

I wanted to be mad. I wanted mercy in that moment. I was not planning on spending $50 for the metro. But, in that moment a scripture popped into my head that I had read the day before. Mosiah 3: 11

“For behold, and also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned.”

At that moment I felt like I fit into one of those three categories. I had ignorantly made a mistake. I’m sure there will come a time when we all beg for mercy for the times we sinned ignorantly, or for people who died not knowing about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the plan of Salvation. I am so grateful we have a Savior who paid the price for us- even in ignorant sin moments.

So, it was a dumb mistake. And it wasn’t fun to have to pay that much. But, it also reminded me of Jesus Christ.

I have started looking at this internship experience as my “trial run.” I want more Europe trips in the future. I’ve decided I can be a world traveler. This experience is teaching me a lot, and I will be more prepared on my next trip. Here are some things I now know for next time:

• Get an international phone plan (More expensive, but less of a hassle)
• Get a credit card that taps
• Pack more clothes than I originally think I need
• VISA cards only work in ATMs that specifically say “VISA”

I’m sure I will keep adding more to this list as time goes on. My next trip will be smoother. But I am loving this trial run trip.

Trdelník

Prague the second time was awesome. We tried Trdelník. (Pronounced Tur-del-nick) It is SO GOOD! We ate it for breakfast! It is a wide hollow churro filled with fruit and chocolate (or whatever you want) topped with ice cream or whipped cream and covered in more chocolate. It is yummy! Mine was stuffed with Nutella and strawberries. YUM!

We got souvenirs! I got a baby Jesus ornament for a Christmas tree, a couple of shirts, some postcards, and stickers. I think souvenirs are honestly my favorite part of trips.

We also walked around Prague. It is a beautiful city! I want to go back again.

Marketing Stuff

Check out this video we made for April at Cumorah.

Content creation is going so well. The marketing team is having me blog more, which I love doing. Cumorah is so great. I am loving it here. I’m having a fun time and learning a lot.

Interviewing the mentors is still one of my favorite parts. We had the Bassett’s a couple of weeks ago, and the Powers this week. (I haven’t written a blog for a while!)

Accountability Challenge

One of the biggest things that is been going on in my life is the Accountability challenge. It’s a four-week program and each week adds on something new. The point of it is to become more accountable. The first week started with a morning routine. You come up with 4 things you want to accomplish in the morning before 10 a.m. and you have to text the person in charge of the program by am saying you did all your tasks.

My tasks I chose are:

1. Exercise for 15 minutes

2. Drink 2 cups of water before breakfast

3. Personal Study

4. Sketch something in my journal

Week two started and in addition to the morning routine you had to text in your 3 top priority tasks you were going to accomplish that day. Then you had to text her that they were done by 10 pm. There are still two more weeks, so I am sure they’ll add more things. It’s not so much about the routine or tasks as it is the texting and accountability. If you don’t do something on your list, or if you forget to text by that time (even if it is 10:01) you get an x. After three x’s you are out of the accountability program.

Breakfast is at 8 and then devotional and leadership class goes till 10:30. Because I don’t want to be scrambling to text her in the middle of class, I have told myself that the deadline to accomplish my morning routine is 8 a.m. instead of 10. It has made me have to get up earlier than normal to accomplish all my things, but it has been good.

It’s been awesome. I was worried it would be hard to get up and get going on things, but it’s been okay. There have been days when I have wanted to sleep in, but I have felt so accomplished after the morning. I keep thinking of the Flynn Rider quote, “Oh, the things we have seen and it’s only 8 in the morning!” I’ve already accomplished 4 things and it’s only 8 in the morning? I can do anything today.

It’s been nice. I’m sure I will update you more on it, because it is one of the big things in my life right now.

In conclusion

I am doing really well, I am happy here.

(Technically I am currently tearing up as I write this blog post, but that is only because I’ve been listening to the Titanic soundtrack on a loop as background noise while writing, and once I got to this section the song, “Hymn to Sea,” started playing followed by “Ocean of Memories.” Whew, the tears. But, I’m sad for Jack and Rose, not for anything Czech Republic-wise.)

It’s been great here. I feel really lucky and blessed. I still can’t believe I am here and don’t know what I did to deserve this wonderful experience. I’m in Europe, can you believe it? It’s been a full month almost and I still can’t believe it.

Till next time,

Mack